Other Youth Topics

Adult Mentor Characteristics

While any adult can act as a youth mentor, a 2005 national survey found some differences between adults who participated in youth mentoring and those who did not (MENTOR, 2006).

Age

Young adults ages 18 to 24 and middle-aged adults ages 35 to 54 had the highest rates for mentoring young people.

Adults 65 and over were the least likely group to mentor young people.

Education and Employment

Adults with higher levels of education are more likely to become mentors than adults with high school diplomas or less.

Thirty-five percent of adults who had received a post-graduate degree indicated that they participated in mentoring, compared to 26 percent of adults who received a high-school education or less.

Thirty-seven percent of adults who worked part time reported that they participated in mentoring youth, compared to 32 percent of adults working full time and 22 percent of adults who were unemployed.

Gender

In 2002, women reported that they participated in mentoring significantly more than men.

From 2002-2005, the number of women participating in mentoring declined, while the number of men participating in mentoring remained relatively steady. This resulted in a higher percentage of men (31 percent) reporting that they participated in mentoring in 2005 than women (27 percent).

Race

Thirty-five percent of non-whites reported that they participated in youth mentoring during 2005, compared to 28 percent of whites.

Participation in mentoring by race reflects a similar trend as gender with a lower number of non-whites reporting that they participated in mentoring during 2005 compared to 2002, but a similar number of white adults indicating that they mentored during 2002 and 2005.

Research on the benefits of same gender and same race mentor-mentee relationships has been inconclusive (same gender) and has not been shown to be a significant factor in enhancing close emotional relationships between mentors and mentees (same race and ethnicity) (Darling, Bogat, Cavell, Murphy, & Sanchez, 2006; Rhodes, Reddy, Grossman, & Lee, 2003; Sanchez & Colon, 2005). Despite this, research has found that same gender and same race mentor and mentee pairs are more typical in naturally occurring mentoring relationships (Chen, Greenberger, Farruggia, Bush, & Dong, 2003; Darling et al., 2006). While these results are inconclusive, research and practice suggests key attributes that have been associated with successful mentors and should be considered during the matching of mentors and mentees (MENTOR, 2009). These are

the ability to listen and to offer friendship, guidance, and encouragement to a young person (National Mentoring Month Campaign, n.d.);

Chen, C., Greenberger, E., Farruggia, S., Bush, K., & Dong, Q. (2003). Beyond parents and peers: The role of important non-parental adults (VIPS) in adolescent development in China and the United States. Psychology in the Schools, 40(1).

Subscribe to E-Newsletter

Share Content

Find opportunities and resources for youth!

Mission Statement

youth.gov is the U.S. government website that helps you create, maintain, and strengthen effective youth programs. Included are youth facts, funding information, and tools to help you assess community assets, generate maps of local and federal resources, search for evidence-based youth programs, and keep up-to-date on the latest, youth-related news.